Very Important Question - Ice Cream :)

[JillK]

3 hours ago, MCMC100 said:

The quality/type should not vary by ship. NCL uses the same products on board all their ships. Almost all consumables are purchased centrally and stored in warehouses in Miami. Cargo containers or trucks transfer the products from Miami to the various ports around the world. A ship must order products 90 days in advance in order to receive it in a port in time for embarkation.
 

Only fresh produce, eggs and some alcohol is purchased locally (I think they said this about alcohol but not 100% - centralized Miami purchasing and storage would explain why every District Brewhouse has a Florida feel to beer selection and every bar has NCL branded liquor).  Everything comes from Miami…. I have learned this from the different Behind the Scenes tours I have taken. Both ships stores managers (Joy and Getaway) have stated same thing. 

 

All I can tell you is that we have cruised on the Escape twice, the Gem, the Epic and more recently the Getaway in 2022 and the Jade Nov 2023 and there was a difference in the soft serve on the Jade versus all the previous ships we have been on. The soft serve on the Jade was "dairy free" per the signage (in both machines, we checked) and this was the only time that dairy free was served, to my knowledge (ie - no signs either way on previous ships).

 

I was expecting the same product across the line but that wasn't our experience.

[stinkyharriet]

5 hours ago, zqvol said:

Never had a bad tasting soft serve cone on NCL

Have you sailed on the Prima?  It was disgusting.

[stinkyharriet]

4 hours ago, MCMC100 said:

Ok, I’m bored and the weather outside is frightful, so I researched Frostline Soft serve ingredients…..not sure what it is, but I know what’s in it…

That looks horrible and I have a feeling that’s what I had on the Prima last year.  

[UKstages]

5 hours ago, MCMC100 said:

Only fresh produce, eggs and some alcohol is purchased locally... Everything comes from Miami...

 

you think all those trucks lined up on the west side highway in new york, waiting as long as twenty-four hours for the getaway or the joy to disembark, have come from miami? all those trucks with beef and chicken and fish have traveled 1200 miles just to get to the pier in new york city? you think all those trucks from sysco have come from miami? all those trucks with the names of different local purveyors on the sides of the truck have come from a central NCL warehouse in miami?

 

forget about new york... you think all provisions for cruises departing from seattle, los angeles, boston and san diego come from miami? 

 

i can certainly appreciate that this is what you believe you were told on a BTS tour, but it's simply not true. it may be true, if you departed on a ship from miami, but fleet-wide, it just isn't so.

[cruiser2015]

38 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

you think all those trucks lined up on the west side highway in new york, waiting as long as twenty-four hours for the getaway or the joy to disembark, have come from miami? all those trucks with beef and chicken and fish have traveled 1200 miles just to get to the pier in new york city? you think all those trucks from sysco have come from miami? all those trucks with the names of different local purveyors on the sides of the truck have come from a central NCL warehouse in miami?

 

forget about new york... you think all provisions for cruises departing from seattle, los angeles, boston and san diego come from miami? 

 

i can certainly appreciate that this is what you believe you were told on a BTS tour, but it's simply not true. it may be true, if you departed on a ship from miami, but fleet-wide, it just isn't so.

Wait a minute...

you forgot about all the ships in Europe, Asia, Africa & S. America getting those supplies air lifted from Miami.

[destar]

When I saw the title of this thread, only one thing came to mind. 

Forrest Gump saying,     Lt Dan,,,,    ICE Cream..

[MCMC100]

I’m simply telling you what I was told on two separate cruises by two separate people both of whom were responsible for ordering the supplies on the ship. I find it rather complicated, but they told me that’s how they do it. It’s shipped from Miami central warehouses and stored locally awaiting delivery to the ship on embarkation day.
 

I also asked about overseas ports and they BOTH told me that it is shipped by cargo containers to the oversea ports from Miami. They both told me this is part of the reason for the 120 day confirmation requirement. This gives them an idea as to how many children etc on the ship and they use that information to order more/less hot dogs, Mac-n-cheese, cereal etc for a particular cruise. They need to order 90 days out so it can be shipped to the overseas ports by cargo container.  As for the trucks lined up for 24 hours on the West Side Hwy waiting to deliver supplies to an NCL ship, in over 50 years of NY residency I’ve never noticed them. I drive the West side daily and must say, I must be blind to these numerous trucks that sit there. As I also said, they told me they purchase produce and dairy locally so that will explain many of the local trucks arriving.
 

I have no dog in this fight. Don’t care where/when/how/why supplies are delivered to ships. Simply reporting what two different shipboard employees tasked with ordering and receiving supplies for the Joy and Getaway told me….What were you told by shipboard employees about how they receive dry goods and other supplies?  Believe it or don’t…..whatever brings you the most happiness. 

[UKstages]

as i previously said, i have absolutely no doubt this is what you were told by NCL employees.

 

incidentally, the 120 day "commit" is common in many businesses seeking to order the right supplies for their customers and anticipate staffing requirements.

 

as for the west side highway and the cavalcade of trailer trucks... they are there the night before any ship disembarks/embarks. sometimes twenty or more trucks backed up to 59th street. many more if there are two ships in town on the same day. it's a source of much consternation to the community as the trucks idle, which is prohibited by law. it's a big problem.

[cruiseny4life]

13 hours ago, UKstages said:

as i previously said, i have absolutely no doubt this is what you were told by NCL employees.

 

incidentally, the 120 day "commit" is common in many businesses seeking to order the right supplies for their customers and anticipate staffing requirements.

 

as for the west side highway and the cavalcade of trailer trucks... they are there the night before any ship disembarks/embarks. sometimes twenty or more trucks backed up to 59th street. many more if there are two ships in town on the same day. it's a source of much consternation to the community as the trucks idle, which is prohibited by law. it's a big problem.

I looked up the issue surrounding tractor trailers idling. Interesting article from West 42nd St. (legit news source or not - it's certainly a neighborhood resource):

 

https://w42st.com/post/shore-power-and-less-idling-traffic-top-community-wish-list-for-cruise-terminal/

[UKstages]

thanks, @cruiseny4life. i posted that same link not too long ago in another thread when folks questioned the fact that cruising was harmful to the environment. i pointed to the poor air quality in midtown west (chiefly caused by the ships using their own power and not shore power, as noted in the article), but also mentioned the illegal overnight idling of trucks along the west side highway.

[BirdTravels]

On 1/9/2024 at 11:02 AM, seemoreroyals said:

Yes it does.  I pointed out that on the Prima the soft serve ice cream was terrible and that ice cream is ship dependent.  I have been on several NCL ships with very good soft serve ice cream but cannot recall which ones off the top of my head.  We only cruise once a year.  We were on the Prima last month and only tried the soft serve machine once.  It was that bad.

We love the self serve on the Prima. We have sailed on the Prima twice and had soft serve every day. We were just on the Viva and they have added an ice cream machine outside on Ocean Blvd. 

[seemoreroyals]

41 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

We love the self serve on the Prima. We have sailed on the Prima twice and had soft serve every day. We were just on the Viva and they have added an ice cream machine outside on Ocean Blvd. 

It was too icy for us.  Void of flavor.  Glad  to hear you liked the ice cream machine in Prima.  The only one we know of there is in the buffet.  It was one and done for us.

[schmoopie17]

13 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 We were just on the Viva and they have added an ice cream machine outside on Ocean Blvd. 

If it's the same conglomeration of ingredients posted above, there is no CREAM in the ice "cream".

False advertising at its finest...or worst.

[Cruiseandgamble]

On 1/9/2024 at 10:40 AM, JillK said:

On the Jade this past November they were offering "dairy free ice cream" at the soft serve machines. We saw a lot of people eating it but we personally didn't find it to be very good. That was the first time on an NCL ship that we didn't like the soft serve so I would have to agree with the poster above who suggested that the quality/caliber of the soft serve might vary by ship. 

 

In any case, the answer to OP's question has been answered... available when the buffet is open though on the Jade, the machines did not appear to be operational during the breakfast hours.

 

I was on the Jade TA this past November and BOTH soft-serve machines in the buffet were labeled as "Lactose-Free" for both Chocolate and Vanilla flavors.  Definitely tasted very different from what I've had on other NCL ships so not their "normal" mix.  Still ate it though 🙂

[IAcruising]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

If it's the same conglomeration of ingredients posted above, there is no CREAM in the ice "cream".

 

Who cares if it's ice cream, ice milk, frozen dessert, whatever? If it's cold, creamy, and easily fills a cone, I'll eat it. Quit being a grumpy old geezer. 😆

 

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

If it's the same conglomeration of ingredients posted above, there is no CREAM in the ice "cream".

False advertising at its finest...or worst.

Is there anything you don’t complain about? If it tastes good who cares, and it always tastes good 

[Asawi]

1 hour ago, IAcruising said:

 

Who cares if it's ice cream, ice milk, frozen dessert, whatever? If it's cold, creamy, and easily fills a cone, I'll eat it. 

 

I LOVE ice cream! But on the NCL ships I've been at (Spirit, Star, Gem) the ice cream, both softserve and hard, is of really bad quality. Like the cheapest I can get at Lidl (budget supermarket chain). So I eat very little of it (I may put a little on a crepe or that thing they call "cobbler" and insist on not serving with vanilla sauce/custard). No big deal though. There's enough things to eat and drink to keep me happy anyway!

[schmoopie17]

21 hours ago, zqvol said:

Is there anything you don’t complain about? If it tastes good who cares, and it always tastes good 

Nope...there's very little I don't complain about. Just part of my charm.

And if it tasted good, I wouldn't complain about it.

How's that for an answer?

But I guess I'm not entitled to an opinion.

 

 

Edited January 12 by schmoopie17

[schmoopie17]

21 hours ago, IAcruising said:

Quit being a grumpy old geezer. 😆

 

Hey, I'm grumpy and old and a geezer. Too late to turn back now...

[stinkyharriet]

Okay, I just got off the Getaway this morning.  Soft serve was definitely ice milk, not creamy and almost no flavor.  I only tried it once but it’s still better than what I had on the Prima last year!

[SoloAlaska]

SOFT SERVE would probably be the best word for what they serve onboard. It’s pretty bland which is consistent with most NCL food though. I had it once onboard the Gem and then went to the hard stuff. Really the best ice cream was the Gelato in the MDR served with the lava cake and strawberry compote, my favorite dessert on that cruise I had 4 servings over my 16 days.

[Tamereth]

On 1/9/2024 at 8:12 AM, pfleer said:

HI all!  We are a long time Carnival cruising family.  We are trying to find alternatives.  We tried Royal Caribbean last year and while some things were nice, it wasn't worth the cost difference vs Carnival.  We get pretty great casino deals with Carnival.  The biggest issue my family had was that RCCL did not have 24 hour soft serve ice cream.  And when the soft serve was open, the lines were extremely long and you were served tiny cones by RCCL staff (if they didn't run out by the time it was your turn).  Needless to say, my family has threatened me that if we ever go on another cruise without 24 hour ice cream, they will throw me overboard.

 

So - does NCL have 24 hour, self serve, ice cream cones?  Specifically looking at Breakaway for Thanksgiving, I think.  Was looking at Joy but the wonky pool deck makes that one a no-go now.

 

It's not self-serve, but O'Sheehan is open 24hr and has ice cream.  The sundaes are an extra charge BUT their complimentary dessert menu includes apple pie a la mode.  When we're feeling like ice cream, we ask for an apple pie a la mode, minus the apple pie :)  (Or just also eat pie.)

[schmoopie17]

19 hours ago, stinkyharriet said:

Okay, I just got off the Getaway this morning.  Soft serve was definitely ice milk, not creamy and almost no flavor.  I only tried it once but it’s still better than what I had on the Prima last year!

Here in Wisconsin (aka Americas' Dairyland), we have a frozen custard stand on almost every block. (Of course, around here pretty much everything is frozen...but I digress). The two primary ingredients of frozen custard are cream and eggs...neither of which will be found on the ingredients list for the fake stuff that oozes from their machine posted earlier in this thread. 

 

While NCL doesn't purport to call their goopy mess frozen custard, the fact that they attempt to pass it off as some sort of a dairy product at all is absurd.

 

 

Edited January 18 by schmoopie17

[pfleer]

thanks everyone for the feedback.  Unfortunately, I won't be booking NCL.  The casino rates I'm getting with Carnival are just too damn good.  Someday I'll give NCL a go, probably when we are sans kids so the price is more palatable.

[cruiser2015]

On 1/17/2024 at 4:02 PM, stinkyharriet said:

Okay, I just got off the Getaway this morning.  Soft serve was definitely ice milk, not creamy and almost no flavor.  I only tried it once but it’s still better than what I had on the Prima last year!

On the Bliss right now, mid-cruise.

I agree with your description of the soft serve; but I do find it refreshing - wet, cold, not too sweet.

There is also ice cream in the buffet, plus added to various desserts. Fair, on the lower end of the quality scale.

But, there is a gelato shop - quite tasty - at @ $3.00 a scoop; $4.50 for a double (plus 20% of course).